I am Worthy
by Vengeance on a Dark Horse
Summary: THE ALLFATHER'S PROCLAMATION: "All maidens, of years at least fifteen, who are true citizens of His Majesty the King, are invited to the Helmsman's Square on the Morn of the Third Moon-day of the Fifth Month, where the worthy shall be chosen in search of a worthy wife for a son of the Royal House." (Pre-Thor thru Post TDW) (Starting out with short chapters, but will get longer)


Death and the Maiden

Chapter One:

The Proclamation

_Asgard_

"Did you hear? Prince Thor's getting a wife!"

The mead hall went silent. Every roughhousing warrior froze in his mischief, from guzzling drunkard to wrestling foes in headlocks; all eyes turned to the loud boom of the town crier's daughter. She had a strident shriek more akin to a harpy than a fair maid, but it did the trick. For whenever she opened her lips, all would hear and all would look with bemused lifts of the brow to see that the source of the cacophony was none other than the five footed ginger girl with her locks in a pair of innocent braids that circled a plump wide-eyed face, always smiling.

The arched brows turned to annoyed frowns as they stared in waiting. The girl glimpsed side to side with a hand nervously plunging into a pocket in the side of her worn dress, stained with mud on the hems.

"It's true! See!" she pulled out a scroll, brandishing it in the air with an exaggerated swoop, and then letting it fatefully unravel itself before the crowd. She swung her attention toward the closest table and leapt on top of it, kicking the plates to the side, to the curses of the men sitting around it.

"Hear the command of the King himself!" she coughed and gave an artful pause with a lift of her hand, "By the proclamation of Odin, King and Allfather of Asgard, Protector of the Nine Realms, Near and Far, heed my word! All maidens, of years at least fifteen, who are true citizens of His Majesty the King, are invited to the Helmsman's Square on the Morn of the Third Moon-day of the Fifth Month, where the worthy shall be chosen in search of a worthy wife for a son of the Royal House."

"That says nothing of Thor," yelled out one warrior, "It said 'the son of a Royal House.' That could just as well be some distant cousin or some son of a son of a half-sister."

"Would the Allfather place out such a proclamation to draw in such attention for just any old distant relation?" the girl retorted.

The men cast glances between each other.

"Would he make such a proclamation for the marriage of his blood and heir? He would not thus debase the position. It is not just any old thing to be a wife of a man who is to be king-"

"No it isn't, it is a thing that requires a lady to represent not herself but an entire people, and what better way to find such a representative than among the people's ladies themselves?" said the girl.

The men glanced between each other again, grimacing now with displeasure.

"He is but a child. What business has the prince with a wife?"

"Twelve is no child," said another man, "Soon he shall be reaching maturity, and it is better to be prepared than unprepared. Though I cannot say how good a preparation it is to throw such a sacred right to the common man…"

"Who's to say it won't be a distant cousin," surmised a third man, "or even Loki, the Younger."

"No," an older man shook his head vigorously, "The young lady is right. They would not bother to draw such attention if it were not a Prince, and to wed the younger before the elder would be unthinkable. It is the Mighty Thor, a boy still, who they seek to marry. Perhaps it will be good for me."

"Good or no, it won't be seeing my approval," said another old man, "They should keep these things in the family."

"Ha!" the girl shrieked out a laugh with another kick of a plate of the table, "You may all be spitting out your chides but come the Third of the Fifth, I'll give five gold for each of you's whose own daughters won't be out there dressed in her finest silks and rouge!"

All the men glumly frowned, grumbling under the breaths. But they knew it all to be true—for there was not a single one of them who was not struck with awe and curiosity. All the city was in an uproar, all were asking the same question—

Who was Thor to marry? Could it be one of _their _daughters?


End file.
